Ready
by itsnickmillertime
Summary: Nick Miller never does anything he's afraid of. But something feels different this time around.
1. Chapter 1: Homecoming

**Author's Note:** I think the last time I wrote FF was in 2008... no, seriously. This is my first one in almost 10 years, so thanks Liz Meriwether and the writers of New Girl for giving me some amazing characters to work with. On that note, try not to hate this too much. This is set throughout season 6 and gives insight to what good ol' Nicholas Miller might have been feeling throughout this emotional rollercoaster of a season. Feedback is appreciated.

•••

 **Ready**

 _Chapter One: Homecoming_

The first time Nick feels it, he's walking through the door of the loft upon his return from New Orleans. There's an emptiness he feels when he realizes that no one else is home. For the first time since Cece and Schmidt's wedding, he is completely alone. At first, it's kind of a nice feeling. New Orleans had been such an overwhelming vacation for him. Amazing, but overwhelming. He had never been truly alone the whole trip. Even when Reagan was out working- he would be walking the streets of New Orleans, posting up at bars, and working on The Pepperwood Chronicles. He had finally finished his first novel. As long as he had Pepperwood and Jessica Night, he was never truly alone. But now, with the novel finished and New Orleans in the past, he was alone and being in this empty loft that normally had such a bright and upbeat atmosphere to it was really bringing him down.

When Reagan's company informed her that they were cutting her stay in New Orleans short, his emotions were mixed. He wanted to spend more time with Reagan and explore their relationship, but at the same time—he really missed his best friends. Schmidt and Winston texted him every single day about any little thing that happened to them, but he couldn't help but feel there was a void in his relationship with Jess. They exchanged a couple of texts at the very beginning of his trip, but they started dwindling down as the days dragged on. In fact, it had probably been about two weeks since he had heard from her at all. It was probably because she was trying to date more now that her and Dr. Sam had broken up (pft- again). Nick hated that he hadn't talked to her, but he understood that she was going through something right now. She really cared about Dr. Sam, and for him to just leave her like that… the thought of it really pissed him off. He wanted to be there for her but… he just… he couldn't right now. He was in New Orleans with his dream girl.

Sitting in the loft on his own, he started to think about the past couple of months in New Orleans. He had genuinely enjoyed hanging out with Reagan and getting a chance to really just… be with her. She had such a wry sense of humor and a confident attitude that made her infinitely sexier than she already was. She didn't force him to talk about how he felt, didn't try to make him do anything he didn't want to do, and honestly he just liked how he felt when he was with her. Sure, there were annoying things about her, too—but this was his dream girl. He could get past those annoyances. And now that she wasn't around, he missed her.

He heard someone rumbling at the door and finished taking the bite of his lunch. He wondered who the first person he was going to see would be. He knew who he hoped it would be.

The first time he sees her, his heart flutters a little bit. He didn't realize how much he missed her until she's standing right in front of him. He panics. "Hey! Crawdaddy's home!" He coughs. He's an idiot for trying to talk with his mouth full. "I had a whole crawdaddy thing but, I… the point is, I'm home."

She seems flustered—almost as if she's upset about something. "Hey, Nick." She doesn't seem too pleased that he's home… did something happen while he was away? Did he do something wrong? "You weren't supposed to be home for like, a month… are you guys doing okay?"

Maybe he's overthinking things. Maybe she was just super surprised to see him.

"Yeah, uh, Reagan's drug company is moving her up to Seattle—"

"Okay…"

"So we're doing the distance thing. Yeah! We're doing great."

The exchange seems a little awkward. He doesn't know what to make of it. What the hell is going on?

"You know what they call Seattle in Portland?" It's like she's just making conversation just to make conversation. "North Portland." Yep, she's definitely doing just that. "Or, uh, Vancouver's Shoe."

"What?" She is thoroughly confusing him. He has no idea where to go with this conversation.

"Vancouver's Shoe." He smiles at her weak attempt at a joke. Maybe if he just hugs her—things will be okay and back to normal. Maybe she just needed a moment to get that out of her system.

"Get in here! Give me a hug!" He approaches her and takes her into his arms. He's expecting it to be immediately warm and familiar, but it just seems cold and distant. He hears her mutter okay under her breath before finally hugging him back. He loves this feeling. He missed this feeling. He missed the essence of everything that is Jess. He almost gets lost in his thoughts for a second before finally pulling away.

"Wow, look at you! You got jacked!" She honestly looks amazing. She was already a 10 before he left for New Orleans and now she's like… a 15. How was that even possible? "What, did you to go prison?"

She laughs timidly, and his heart flutters. Finally, he had said something to make her at least smile. Maybe their friendship wasn't as far gone as he thought it was. "No. I worked out a lot."

He desperately wants to have a conversation with her. Really, anything to make this feel like he had his best friend back, "Come on! Sit down! I haven't seen you in months. I need some Jess." He had needed some Jess for a very long time, but he hadn't realized how much until this very moment. "I also have something very important to tell you…" She squirms a little bit… why is she so uncomfortable, "Is everything okay?"

"Um," He sees her fumble. She's breathing a little heavier than normal, "I have to um- it's just, I have to meet my friend. I mean I have to go to the zoo."

He furrows his brow. She hates the zoo. "The zoo? You hate zoos."

"Um, I was supposed to meet her in the lemur section of the parking lot like ten minutes ago, so…"

Wait, what friend? "What friend?"

"Why… Deedee. I have to meet Deedee. She's, like, a good friend."

That was a blatant lie and he could tell. "Deedee? That's not a name. You have one friend. It's Cece."

And with that, she's out the door. Gone. Yet again, he's alone. He sits back down on the couch and contemplates the scene that just unfolded. What the hell just happened? Why did she act so weird? What was going on? Did he do something to her without knowing it? Why did he care so much?

He closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. He wishes Reagan were here. She'd make him feel better. And that's when he feels an emotion he has suppressed and ignored for three years now. He had pushed it down to the depths and swore it would never come back until he was ready. He panics for a moment—was he really ready? Was this really it? Was this really how he felt? He couldn't help it- it was overcoming him. Love.


	2. Chapter 2: Notes

**Authors Note:** Y'all are awesome. Thank you for the positive feedback and the encouragement to keep going! I hope you enjoy Chapter 2 as much I as enjoyed writing it. I'm trying to keep everything in line with what happened in Season 6 while also getting creative. Keep that feedback comin! 

**Ready**

 _Chapter 2: Notes_

Everything seemed to be alright in the loft, as far as Nick could tell. Things had been off with Jess since he returned, but recently she started to engage in conversations with him and not be as squirrel-y as she had been the first day that he had returned. She had started disappearing a little more often; he assumed it was because she was going on dates. But when Robby appeared in their apartment one day, he found out that she had been engaging in a singles club who's motto was "I'm single and I'm sufficient." ISIS, for short, as Schmidt had pointed out.

He thought that seemed a little out of character for her, but really- when could you ever predict what Jessica Day was going to do? That girl was always surprising the roommates. Especially him.

So when the Schmidts, Aly and Winston took the singles club with them on their camping trip—Nick stayed home to edit and write more for his novel. "No notes," Schmidt had told him upon reading the novel through the first time. No notes? Seriously? There was no way that Schmidt could just read through his novel and have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. I mean, it was Schmidt for God's sake. He had something to say about literally everything.

Nick tries to call Reagan, but her phone goes straight to voicemail—something that instantly annoys him because it's the third time this week that that has happened. Honestly, he hasn't heard Reagan's voice in a couple days now. He feels a pang of sadness when he realizes that it's been almost three weeks now since he's seen her. Those three weeks have felt pretty empty. And now he's alone in the loft again.

He begins looking at flights to Seattle. Maybe if he left for the weekend while the others were on the camping trip, he wouldn't feel so alone anymore. Maybe if he got to see Reagan for a couple days, he would be okay for another three weeks. Maybe…but… wait. What was there for him to do in Seattle besides follow Reagan around while she makes sales calls? Suddenly the thought was a little bit too much to handle, and he closes his laptop immediately. Okay, so if he wasn't going to go to Seattle—what was there left to do?

He immediately returns to reading The Pepperwood Chronicles from top to bottom. Schmidt had said there were no notes for him, but there had to be. Maybe Nick could find things to improve in his novel himself. Maybe that could help keep him occupied from his thoughts.

He wonders if Jess had any notes for him about his novel. She hasn't really said much, but he could tell that she was pleased when he showed her that part of the dedication was to her. Her smile lit up the room that night when he had let her read it. Suddenly, he feels another pang of sadness because his best friend was still being weird and he had no idea why. He thought back to the last real conversation they had had. It had been the night of Schmidt and Cece's wedding. Her room. She had told her she was sick and tired of him not realizing how incredible he was. It had been a moment. But then the moment had been ruined by the others coming in the room to bring them out to dance. Could she still possibly be upset about all of that nonsense? There was no way, he thought, it had been almost three months since that happened and she hadn't mentioned it again. She… damnit, why was his mind obsessing over this issue yet again? He was overthinking it. Things with Jessica Day were fine; they were on different paths of their life right now, but they would be just fine at the end of it the road.

Nick finished re-reading the first chapter of his novel and realized that he couldn't figure out any criticisms for it either. He's normally his biggest critic, so this was a surprise to him. He thinks about who else he could send the book to, and immediately- he calls Winston. Winston and Aly agree to read the book for him, despite their crazy sex life, and he starts to get excited. Maybe Winston and Aly would have notes.

While waiting for them to respond, Nick's mind wanders once again. What the hell was Reagan really doing in Seattle? Why would her phone go straight to voicemail like that? He imagines her walking into a Seattle hospital (like on that Grey's Anatomy show Jess had made him watch) and falling in love with a hot doctor and leaving him behind. He panics and takes his phone out one more time to call her.

Nope. Voicemail again. He lets out an exasperated sigh and cradles his head in his hands. What the hell was he thinking getting into a long distance relationship with a beautiful girl like Reagan? Reagan could literally have any man (or woman!) she wanted. She was a 10, and you don't go into long distance relationships with 10s. Why did he expect her to stay faithful to him while she was away?

Suddenly, a little voice inside of his head spoke. Oddly enough, that little voice sounded exactly like Jess. Stop it, Nick! I'm tired of you being the only person who doesn't see how incredible you are. Obviously that conversation had stuck with him a little more than he thought it had. Voice-in-head Jess was right. He needed to stop doubting himself and start believing in himself. He was capable of writing another chapter. He could do this.

Several hours later, he had it. Another chapter finished. He closes his laptop and leans back in his chair. Thank God that was over. Now he could relax for the rest of the weekend until the rest of the gang came home. Which was… a whole 36 hours away. Great. He decides to take a trip to the bar, have a couple of drinks, and make sure that everything was in working order.

Javier hands Nick an Old Fashioned and nods at him. "How was New Orleans, man? I feel like we've been on opposite schedules since you got back."

Nick hadn't been to work very often since he got back from New Orleans, mainly because he had been working on his novel. He had delegated most of the work to Cece and Javier before he left (because, let's be honest, Schmidt would have ran all of the bartenders out of the bar before he got back) and he let them continue running the bar while he was trying to get acclimated to being home. He must admit, Cece and Javier were doing a great job. It was kind of nice being able to focus on his writing instead of worrying about the bar 24/7.

"New Orleans was great, man! I had a really great time being with Reagan and just getting a chance to work on my novel." He feels like he has said those exact sentences hundreds of times, but he entertains saying it again for Javier. "Yeah, the city just had so much culture to it. We went to this haunted house one time… I swear I saw a ghost. Reagan said it was just an old woman who was just really pale but… I stand by it. It was definitely a ghost." He laughs.

"Yeah your girl, Nick- she's super hot." Javier observes. Nick nods in appreciation. "You guys getting serious?" Nick contemplates the question. On one hand, he and Reagan's relationship was very serious- seriously sexy. They had an undeniable attraction to one another and there was no stopping it. It was kind of out of control sometimes. On the other hand, they never really spoke about their feelings with one another, so he didn't know how she felt or where she was at in the relationship. But for him, he knew that there were some deep, amorous feelings that he needed to explore.

"Yeah, yeah. I think we are. As serious as you can get for a long distance relationship." He laughs nervously. He really needed to see Reagan soon. Or hell, even hear from her.

Javier nods, "Well I think you need to lock that one down real quick. I haven't seen you this happy since you were dating that girl that you live with that's in here all the time." Nick's brow furrows.

"That was years ago man, I've been happy since then!" Javier hands Nick another Old Fashioned with a skeptical look in his eyes. "You're saying you haven't seen me happy since I was with Jess?"

"Of course I've seen you happy, but I haven't seen you that happy. You had like a Disney-happy vibe around you all the time. Then you weren't so happy anymore. Then you were okay for a while, then depressing again…" Nick rolls his eyes. Javier was definitely exaggerating. "But now it seems like you're on track to being that annoying happy again. Nothing wrong with that. Good for you man, you deserve it."

Deep down, Nick knows that Javier is right. He hadn't been truly happy since he and Jess had broken up three years ago. He had tried to fill the void with random girls who would steal things from the loft, Kai, and bar crawls. He had watched his beautiful ex-girlfriend try to seduce Tom at that one wedding, try to find love on Dice, date that British douchebag Ryan, and EVEN WORSE date the man who had punched him in the throat when he found out that Nick had kissed Jess four years ago. It had been hell to watch unfold, but he had dealt with it, and he thought that he had done it subtly. Breaking up with Jess had been no easy feat. She had been the greatest love of his life thus far, and getting over her wasn't something that happened easily. It took a long time to be okay with them being apart. And Reagan eased the pain of it all.

Nick chugs the rest of the Old Fashioned like it was nothing. Javier starts to make another, but Nick stops him, "Actually could you just make it straight whiskey? And keep them coming."

"I'm sorry if that upset you man, I was just trying to make an honest observation. I'm happy for you."

"I appreciate that, I really do. I just haven't heard from Reagan in a couple of days and it's really starting to worry me." He pulls out his cell phone to look at it again, worried that he might have missed a text or two. There was only one text on his phone and it was from Winston. "Aly and I don't have any notes." Well, too late anyway Winston.

Nick sighs and scrolls through his contacts. He stops at Reagan's name first and debates on whether or not to call her one more time. Would it seem desperate? Insecure? He looks at Javier, who knowingly hands him a shot glass and a handle of whiskey. Ol' Nick Miller is getting drunk tonight.


	3. Chapter 3: Hangover

**Ready**

 _Chapter Three: Hangover_

Nick wakes up the next morning with a killer hangover. How in the hell did he get home? He looks at his hands to see if Drunk Nick had left Sober Nick any notes. Nope. Nothing. He sighs and reaches for his phone.

He has 13 missed text messages. The majority are from Schmidt and Winston, two from Javier, and one from… Jess. He checks Javier's text messages first. "Hey man- put you in a cab around 2:30 am." "Let me know you got home safe- you were pretty messed up last night." He wonders why he isn't better friends with Javier. Schmidt and Winston's texts are pretty generic, nothing special, just filling him in on the events of the camping trip. He leaves Jess' text for last. "Are you okay?"

Jess' text seems pretty standard to him, but what seems weird is the long text message that he had typed out and, thankfully, never sent her. Nick shakes his head out of embarrassment. Drunk Nick was out of control. The text was long, riddled with spelling errors, and clearly incoherent. He didn't understand where his mind was when he wrote this.

 _Hey jessicaaaa- it's Nick Miller, your ex lover, current roommfriend. I hope u are having an amzing time on your singles trip. Kind of a bummer. Remember that time we went campin and I almost killed you? Ha. Best year of my life. I miss you, jess. Like really miss you. U have ths light about you and I just havnt really seen it shine since I got back from New Orleans. Anyway, hav a good rest of ur trip and I'll see u when you gget home. Maybe we can actually talk thenn. Ok jess._

He groans. Thank God he didn't send that, or today would have been even worse. He puts his phone down and struggles to get up to find some water. Luckily, Drunk Nick had thought of him and left some water out for Sober Nick. Drunk Nick was so thoughtful. He closes his eyes for a second and lets his mind drift. What was the last thing he could remember doing last night? He thought hard.

Oh! He called Reagan. This time, it hadn't gone straight to voicemail and she had picked up. He struggled to remember the conversation as much as possible. He had been happy to hear her voice, but she had sounded annoyed. Probably because he was calling her at 1 am. He had asked her why she hadn't been answering his phone calls, and she had ranted about how she was busy and didn't always have time to talk. She had told him that she had gotten his seven voicemails, and while she had appreciated them, she hadn't had time to talk and call him back. He remembered rolling his eyes at the conversation and hanging up on her with a simple, "Whatever, Reagan. Call me when you have time for your boyfriend." Then, he proceeded to take five more shots of whiskey and immediately blacked out.

He checks his phone log to verify that that was a legitimate memory. Sure enough, he had talked to Reagan, for there was a five minute phone call between the two on his recents list. He notes that she hadn't called him back after him hanging up on her. He also notes that he had called Jess nine times. In a row. He throws his phone across the room and his hands up to his face in absolute agony. Why? WHY? What was he thinking?

The text from Jess makes sense now. He gets up and retrieves his phone from across the room. There's a tiny crack on the screen now, which could be considered symbolism for how he felt at this current moment in time. He felt angry with Reagan, sad that they had fought with no resolution, and worried that he had left Jess messages that didn't need to be left. Nick pulls up Reagan's number on his phone and calls it. He needed to talk to her and make sure that they were alright. Lo and behold, straight to voicemail. He rolls his eyes. So much for that.

"Hey. Sorry for the outburst last night. I just miss you. Call me when you have time to talk." If he can't get a hold of her, he'll just text her. Whatever. Things will get better soon, right?

He pulls Jess' text back up and looks at it one more time before deciding to delete it. He didn't want to remember how many times he called her or her concern. Even as his best friend, it was hard to know her concern for him. Sometimes it made him feel like they still had a chance, and that just wasn't the reality.

There's still a good 24 hours before the rest of his roommates get home, so Nick decides to take that time for himself and sleep off the rest of his hangover. He hopes that this will also rid him of any memory of the stupid texts he had sent and the pointless fight he had had with Reagan.

She calls him while he's treating himself to Hop Foo's. Her name flashes across the screen and his heart skips a beat. Uh oh. He was hoping that he would be able to avoid this conversation. He picks his phone up and swallows his last bite of dumpling before answering. "Hello?"

"Nick." He hears her voice and immediately his anxiety clears. "You never answered my text last night. Are you okay?"

He doesn't have to wonder why Jess' voice soothes him so much, but he does wonder why Reagan's doesn't do the same. "Yeah, yeah. I'm alright, Jess. Why do you ask?"

She laughs for a second and his stomach lurches, "I mean- you did call me nine times last night, Miller. I'm sorry I didn't answer, we were really getting into the campfire tunes." Nick is silent as he starts to imagine what that must have been like. "You still there?"

"Yeah, yep. I'm still here. Sorry I called you so many times. I definitely got a little bit drunker than I should have last night. When will you be home?" The phone starts to beep and he removes it from his ear to look at it. Reagan was calling. He can hear Jess mumbling her response to his question, but he really needs to talk to Reagan. "Hey Jess? I'm really sorry but Reagan's on the other line and I need to take her call."

"Oh." There's a twinge of disappointment in her voice that he can hear, but he can't focus on it right now. "Oh, alright. Bye Nick." She hangs up. Nick answers Reagan's call.

"Reagan, hey!" He says nervously. He's worried that this is going to turn into a fight that he doesn't want to have. He just wants to hear her voice.

"Hey Nick… listen, I'm sorry about last night. These doctors really don't know a damn thing about what they're doing up here and it's stressing me out. It's nothing like Grey's Anatomy here. I'm sorry I took my frustration out on you." He sighs in relief. Perhaps this conflict could be avoided.

"It's okay, I'm sorry I lashed out at you. I've just been missing your voice and it felt like you didn't want to talk to me. I understand how busy you must be, though." There's silence for a good five seconds before he hears a man's laugh in the background and Nick's heart drops.

"Yeah, we're okay, I promise. Listen, I gotta go— some of the representatives are getting together so we can go out tonight and I don't want to miss out. I'll call you sometime soon, yeah? Talk to you later." She hangs up the phone before he can respond.

 **Authors Note** : Sorry that I'm so late on posting this chapter. There was a lot of stuff going on between now and April, including the fact that New Girl did indeed get renewed for a 7th season (thank God). I didn't get a lot of feedback on the last chapter so I wasn't sure if anyone liked it or not, and it took me a moment before I could truly see where this story was going. If you do like the story and want me to continue, please leave some feedback! Thank you so much!


	4. Chapter 4: What Happens in New York

Ready

 **Chapter 4: What Happens in New York**

Some time over the summer, Schmidt had received an invitation to attend a high school reunion where he would be honored as Fitzgerald High's Distinguished Alum of the Year. He had told the entire gang about it and they all decided to make a trip out of it. Schmidt described it as the "second most important event in his entire life" closely trailing his wedding with Cece. Nick didn't understand Schmidt's obsession with proving how awesome his life was to his high school peers, but he played along anyway.

Sitting in the airport, Nick realizes that this flight was probably the dumbest decision the group has made in a while. The red eye flight is leaving at 1 am, which means they'll be arriving in New York around 7 am. Nick quickly calculates how many hours of sleep he might be able to get and realizes that it's probably not in the cards for him. The plane was going to be way too loud for him to be able to sleep. Sure, the flight was a lot cheaper than what they would normally pay for a roundtrip flight across the country— but at what physical cost!?

"Hey, Nick." Jess is walking over towards him with two cups of coffee in her hand. She's wearing a set of pajamas that just pass for normal clothes. Her hair is a mess, she looks tired as hell, and she's got her glasses on. To anyone else, this might just look like a really tired woman, but to Nick— she was beautiful. She was Jess. "I brought you some coffee. You looked like you could use it." She timidly smiles at him.

"Thanks Jess," He smiles back, "You're so thoughtful."

Her cheeks immediately turn a soft shade of red and she looks down at her coffee cup. "What seat you got, Miller? You better say 23 C."

He looks down at his ticket. "I do have 23 C. What are you, some sort of mind reader?"

"Wishful thinking I guess." She mumbles. He laughs and puts his arm around her. She looks up at him and for a moment his heart stops.

"Nick! Jess!" Schmidt's voice can be heard from across the terminal and the moment is over. "We're over here!"

They slowly walk over to their gate and sit down with the rest of the group. Cece is asleep with her head on Schmidt's shoulder, while Schmidt is simultaneously muttering and rapid texting about something going on at Associated Strategies. Winston is on the phone with Aly, who is waking up for training in Quantico.

Nick decides that the next couple of hours are probably best for him to try and clear the air with Jess. They still hadn't come to a resolution for… whatever issue they were having.

They chat for the better part of 15 minutes, mostly about nonsensical things. She told him all about what had happened with Robby the other night during the camping trip and how Cece and Schmidt were trying to force her to like him. Nick can't help but notice he feels a little pang of jealousy and anger when she tells him this. He immediately dismisses those feelings as leftover from their relationship and moves along.

When it comes time to board the plane, he helps Jess with her luggage and they settle into their seats. Jess seemed to be super awake after drinking the rest of her coffee and, although he was finishing his own, he felt excited to be able to talk to her with a little privacy from the rest of the group. They're about to take off when he feels her hand on his arm. He looks over at her and she's got a look pure terror on her face.

"I don't know what it is about this flight but I just… I'm having a really bad feeling. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab you like that." She whispers.

He smiles at her reassuringly. "You're fine, Jess." He takes her hand in his and squeezes it tight. "We're gonna be fine." She smiles at him, takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes.

When they're in the air, Jess opens her eyes again. "Nothing bad happened? Oh, thank God. That has honestly never happened to me before. "

"Yeah, I know— you were fine when we went to Chicago a couple of years ago. I get like that, too, sometimes. Y'know… panicky. It's okay, it happens to everyone." He's still got her hand in his and he doesn't want to let go, honestly.

The anxiety she had during the beginning of the flight must have drained her of all the energy she had from the coffee buzz because she fell asleep only 30 minutes into the flight. Her hand was still in Nick's when he started to fall asleep himself. His coffee cup from earlier was still in his other hand.

When he wakes up about 3 hours later, Jess is still sound asleep. In fact, everyone on the plane is pretty much sound asleep. Jess' head is on his shoulder, her hand in his hand, and everything feels like it used to be.

And then Nick has a thought— Reagan. Shit.

How would Reagan feel about Nick holding his ex-girlfriend's hand throughout an entire flight? How would Reagan feel about Jess sleeping with her head on Nick's shoulder? She would be so pissed if she were to walk in on this moment right now. He jerks his hand away from Jess' and this causes her to wake up.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She asks, startled.

"Uh, yeah. Everything's fine, Jess. It's just— if Reagan—" he's interrupted by the pilot coming over the intercom to let them know that they were landing in New York about 30 minutes early. In an attempt to avoid Jess for the rest of the trip, Nick spends the next 30 minutes talking to Winston about having one of their extravagant lunches and trying to decide where they would go.

New York is a lot different than Nick Miller remembered. There are so many television shows, movies, and songs that romanticize New York and everything about it and somehow— Nick is just reminded of a slightly dirtier Los Angeles. New York is supposed to be a romantic city that makes you feel wonderful things, but Nick is just feeling pessimistic and— well, hungry.

When Louise pulls up, Nick puts on a smile and says hello. He lets the group know that he and Winston will be going to lunch and that they will see them later that night for the event. He watches Jess get in Louise's car and he finally breathes a sigh of relief. Who knows what would have happened if he had spent the rest of the day with Jess.

•••

 **Authors Note:** Thanks for waiting, guys. I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to write this. Don't give up on this fic though, I do plan on finishing it and as far as I'm concerned, we're just at the very beginning. I plan on having it all done by the time season 7 comes out though. Any comments/encouragement/criticism would be much appreciated!


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